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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Chayei Sara
Sarah will live on only through Yitzchak, and Avraham realizes that his future is also dependent solely on Sarah’s immortality. Perhaps that is why the parsha is entitled Chayei Sarah - the life of Sarah - when the parsha deals apparently only with the death of Sarah and the life of Yitzchak. For it is the life, so to speak, of Sarah after her death, that she still lives on through her son Yitzchak that is the centerpiece of the parsha.
There is a basic human drive within all of us that reflects itself in our wanting to be remembered after we are no longer alive on this earth. I saw once the most poignant tombstone inscription I ever read over the grave of a young woman who died in her twenties. It simply stated: "Please don’t forget me."
Avraham weeps and grieves and eulogizes his beloved Sarah. But he cannot guarantee her memory will be part of the Jewish experience. Only Yitzchak can do that and that is why the bulk of the parsha then describes the effort to find for a proper mate for Yitzchak that will validate Sarah’s heritage and values. Avraham’s true eulogy for Sarah lies in helping Yitzchak reestablish Sarah’s tent and life mission.
Rashi points out the well-known Midrash that when Rivkah entered the tent of Sarah, all of the spiritual greatness that was present in Sarah’s tent and disappeared at the time of her death reappeared with the entry of Rivkah into Yitzchak’s life.
Sarah is truly irreplaceable but her continuity is assured because of Yitzchak and Rivkah. No human being is truly replaceable but no human being is indispensable to the continuity of God’s mission and work on this earth. The next generation is always charged with building upon the legacy that it received from previous generations. Its task is not only that it should create a society that will remember it but that that society will also remember all of the previous generations that preceded it.
Yitzchak and Rivkah will be remembered eternally only if through them Avraham and Sarah are also remembered and preserved. This concept is undoubtedly the source of the Ashkenazic custom of naming new born children after their deceased ancestors. The new baby is immediately challenged to represent and remember, so to speak, the past generation that has departed.
The parsha describes for us the life of Yitzchak but it is entitled Chayei Sarah, the life of Sarah, for only in Yitzchak’s life does Sarah truly live on. Thus every Jewish home that carries forth the traditions of Jewish life and values is transformed into the tent of our eternal mother Sarah
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
